Which Mac for my needs?

Hi all,
I am an Apple IIgs and IIc owner, but I have never owned a Mac and have zero experience with them. My wife needs our expensive and complex PC for her work....I do not. My needs are pretty simple:

1.) Some word processing...nothing extensive.
2.) Internet access via cable modem.
3.) The ablity to transfer files from the internet to the mac then to my Apple II's either by disk or serial cable.
4.) I want to use the IIe emulation card ( which I guess limits the field some )

I have been looking at picking up a Mac LCII(III) or a Color Classic II. Will these do what I want or is there a better choice?

The first question that comes to my mind is, what are your internet needs with the machine? I do see there's a 68k version of the iCab browser, or is email your only concern? I'm wondering if your cable ISP is going to work with any of those machines.

Macs of that vintage are not much use on the internet anymore. If your web use is exceedingly limited and light weight you may get by with it. Pretty much anything pre-Windows 95/98 and pre-Mac OS 8.6 is going to be a bit difficult. PPC and Carbonlib make life much easier.

Seeing as the Color Classic II only sold in Asia, i don't think you'll have an easy time finding one. In all honesty, I can't see doing anything on the internet before Mac OS 8. OS 8 was the beginning of the "modern" classic OS in appearence, but also because Apple included the software and utilities that made it easy to get online. In that case, I would suggest something with a 68040 processor so you can run OS 8. My suggestion would be a Quadra 800. I have one and used it for a LONG time as my main computer and it never let me down. Even under OS 8 it is very fast. I'm not even kidding when I say it wasn't until my MacBook Pro that I felt like I was using a machine that ran its OS well. On the other hand, its still VERY obsolete. If you need use of floppy disks and whatnot, I would suggest getting a beige Powermac G3 since it would still have a floppy drive and all the old serial and localtalk ports as well as ethernet for your cable internet. I don't know if your emulation card works in them though. If I were in the same situation as you, I would buy a newer machine to use for internet and then pick up an older machine to use the emulation card in. If you live near me you can come by the house and pick up all the Macintosh LC II's you want.

Thanks for the replies....I have been doing some reading on Mac info sites and I am starting to suffer from a bit of information overload

I am looking at an LC II (complete system & software) and a Color Classic (also complete) for sale on Ebay to use with the IIe emulation card. The cost would run around 125.00 including shipping, not sure if this is a good price or not? Also is there any reasons to pick one over the other?

Geos, your suggestion to pick up a biege Powermac G3 for internet use makes sense and the few listed on Ebay are not all that expensive. Would love to pick up a few LC II from you, but Wichita is a little to far of a drive from central Pennsylvania

Compare that to your LCII: 16MHz 68020 processor, 10MB max RAM, shipped with 40MB HD (largest SCSI I know of was 36GB, but I don't think the LCII would see more that 2GB), external monitor required at 640x480 max resolution.

A few more pluses: the PowerBook has built-in modem, Ethernet and USB; internal optical drive; much more portable; OS X capable (up to Panther without third-party help).

I have a couple of beige Power Macs that my wife has been bugging me to get rid of. I've got a 9600/200 and a Beige G3 (w/500 mhz G4 upgrade) that I would let go for far less than $125. And I'm in PA (Pittsburgh metro area).

I would thoroughly recommend an OS X capable Mac if you want to be on the net at all. OS 9 internet is a bugbear to set up and full of kludges and workarounds when you get there.

With that in mind, and your requirement 3.) above, I would go for a beige G3 desktop, or a Wallstreet G3 series laptop. Both of these can run OSX and classic MacOS 8.6 to 9.2., and have serial ports. Later Macs do away with the ports, and earlier ones won't run OS X (easily).

The offer above with the G4 upgrade included is a bargain.

With that much grunt you could easily run a IIe emulator in software, and wait around for a cheap LC that can take the IIe card. $125 for any LC is a joke.

I am enamored with old computer hardware, Macs most definitely included. I've tried daily driving and casual surfing on my old stuff, from my accelerated se/30 on up. The older 68k stuff is fine for everything but the most rudimentary of internet tasks. So I'd expect the LCII or III will satisfy your needs for about half your list

Jim_GS wrote:

4.) I want to use the IIe emulation card ( which I guess limits the field some )

I don't know the range of models with available IIe emulator card, but I don't think it is many. If you have to have that, seems like you need two machines- one for that and maybe the word processing, and one for dealing with the net. Obsolete Mac hardware is pretty cheap, depending. You ought to be able to score that LCII for next to nothing. I just bought a Sawtooth G4 for pretty much nothing from my university surplus. It is very satisfying to use in the $/fahrvergnügen units, and has nil trouble with any task I have asked of it.

My $0.02 is get something with a PPC in it, and not try to drag a 68k box onto the net unless it's just to snatch a file from a very simple website. Y'all feel free to cast stones...

an LC II (complete system & software) and a Color Classic (also complete) for sale on Ebay to use with the IIe emulation card. The cost would run around 125.00 including shipping, not sure if this is a good price or not? Also is there any reasons to pick one over the other?

Not clear - is this price each, or total for both? Be aware that these machines are now so old they are in "collector" territory, and their prices bear no relation to what they are "worth" per se, as functioning computers.

That said, the CC would be a handy little package to set up as a IIe card host. A nice compact all-in-one with its own colour monitor.

A non-collector price for a working LC II should be more like $12.50. The CC is so sought after that unfortunately they are probably all going for collector prices. If that price is for both machines, it's probably around what you'd expect to pay.

The software is easily obtained, as are keyboards and mice, so don't worry about looking for either as a complete package, as long as they're guaranteed working. It's the "complete package, original software, boxes and manuals" listings that the collectors are after, and bid up.

I have accepted iantm more than fair offer so that will take care of a Mac for the net.

pmjett...Yep, I love my old hardware! My Apple IIc and IIgs are sitting side by side in my study and I still enjoy using them...christ were they bullet proof! The Mac Color Classic I am leaning toward is more for interest and a little fun.

DrBunsen...the Color Classic I am looking at includes the keyboard, mouse and software. The base cost (shipping included) without any bids would run me one hunderd and ten dollars...again without any other bids. Since this is a new interst of mine I have no feel for what the value of the Color Classic is as an old computer or as a collectors item.

The LC II would be about half that. The LC II does include the keyboard, mouse, color monitor, manuals and software. Both would do what I want, just need to pick one

Hey, this has turned into a fun thread. It's like royalty has shown up in the village with money to throw around. Since we're all turning out our closets, I've got 3 Beige G3's, 3 B&W's, a 9600 w/450G4, 2 Classic II's, a 6500 w/400G3, a 5500, and a 6100 w/240G3. Hmm, I know there's more... I don't think I could wrestle the DA G4 away from my wife, nor the core duo mini she's borrowing. Shipping from Hawaii ain't too bad. It could always be sent on the slow boat to save on shipping.

Geos, your suggestion to pick up a biege Powermac G3 for internet use makes sense and the few listed on Ebay are not all that expensive. Would love to pick up a few LC II from you, but Wichita is a little to far of a drive from central Pennsylvania

Thanks
Jim

Haha, ya just a bit of a drive. My parents used to live in Monessen PA just 45 min south of Pittsburgh and we used to make that drive every year. I like it a lot up there.

well, I am in Southeastern CT - but if you find your way here, ive got a 9600/200, a 333mhz G3 tower, an LC, ..ummm-- and I cant really remember what else - about 15 68K machines - you could take what you wanted.

Your Internet machine should be ad lib., according to pocket, taste and your choice of advice.

The Apple IIe card-bearing machine must be one with an LC PDS slot and 4MB or more of RAM, running an OS with which you can turn off File Sharing and 32-bit addressing, ie System 7.5 max. That limits you to the LC II or a Colour Classic. It also needs that you partition an internal hard drive anew with 10MB max. for the IIe (ProDOS) environment and the rest for the host Mac, or use an external hard drive for the Apple IIe environment.

On the suggestion of a friend I stopped by Penn State University salvage this morning. Looking around I found a number of Macs, most looked like they had been beat hard, but among them was a nice clean Mac Color Classic. For twenty bucks I took a chance and grabbed it. I figured the drive would be wiped, but to my surprize it had OS 7.6.1 installed and a few other programs including a word processor.

The only problem I noticed after messing with it for a bit was that it did not keep time correctly when powered down. I am assuming that it will be an easy fix when I take it apart to clean it up and install my IIe card. This is one neat little PC!!

The only problem I noticed after messing with it for a bit was that it did not keep time correctly when powered down. I am assuming that it will be an easy fix when I take it apart to clean it up and install my IIe card.

that's my fave OS of all time. you can get the appearance extension from OS8 to give it some depth. if you're really lucky, you'll find out what "Bluets and Granola Bars, Make a chewy snack" actually means.